Zamia acuminata

Zamia acuminata is a species of plant in the family Zamiaceae which is threatened by habitat loss. It is found in Costa Rica and Panama.

The holotype of Zamia acuminata is a leaf collected by Anders Sandøe Ørsted in Costa Rica or Nicaragua between 1846 and 1848. It was described by William Turner Thiselton-Dyer in 1884.Template:Sfn While the label with the specimen has the note ad flumen S. Juan Nicaragua on it, suggesting that the leaf was collected near the San Juan River in southern Nicaragua, no other specimens of the plant have been found in Nicaragua or adjacent parts of Costa Rica.Template:Sfn In 1993, Dennis Stevenson published a description of Z. acuminata based on plants growing wild in Panama.Template:Sfn

Phylogeny

Phylogenitic trees published by Calaonje et al. and by Lindstrom et al. place Z. acuminata in the Isthmus clade of Zamia. Calonje et al. further place it in the Acuminata clade, consisting of Z. acuminata, Z. fairchildiana, Z. pseudomonticola, and Z. nana.Template:SfnTemplate:Sfn Stevenson places Z. acuminata, Z. fairchildiana, and Z. pseudomonticola in a clade based on leaflet and reproductive morphology (biology).Template:Sfn In a study of leaflet structure in Z. acuminata and Z. pseudomonticola, Acuña-Castillo and Marín-Méndez note the two species share a number of adaptations for xeric environments, as well as adaptations for mesic, high humidity environments. They also note the close resemblance to the two species of the leaflet structures of Z. fairchildiana. The authors suggest that the three species are closely related and have diverged recently.Template:Sfn

Description

Z. acuminata has a subterranean stem that is subglobose (rounded but not spherical) to cylindrical, up to in diameter.Template:Efn It has one to three compound leaves that are up to long. Leaf stalks are up to long, and densely covered with prickles. The leaf axis has 6 to 15 pairs of leaflets, with some prickles in the lower third of the axis. The leaflets are elliptic-lanceolate with very long acuminate (pointed) tips. Leaflets in the middle of the compound leaf are long and wide.Template:Sfn

Like all Zamia, Z. acuminata is dioecious, with all plants either male or female. Male strobili (cones) are cylindrical, long and in diameter, and are cream to tan in color. Female strobili are cylindrical to ovoid, long and in diameter, and are also cream to tan in color. The seeds are ovoid and red.Template:Sfn

Distribution

Z. acuminata is found between of altitude in Costa Rica and Panama.Template:Sfn